Abdominal and rupture support



Feb. 4, 1941. A. AUSTIN ABDOMINAL AND RUPTURE SUPPORT Filed May 13,-1958 INVENTOR. amer Z. flwr/n' ATTO EYS Patented Feb. 4, 1941 2,230,636AenoMrNAL AND RUPTURE sorroar Albert L. Austin, Cleveland, OhioApplication May 13, 1938, Serial No. 207,752

by means of straps ll cooperating with buckles 5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in abdominal and rupture supportsand is intended primarily for the treatment of ruptures, although it hasother supplementary supporting functions as will presently appear.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a support ofthis character which shall be more effective for the treatment ofruptures than similar devices heretofore used.

Another object of the invention is the provision Of a support whichshall remain substantially fixed with respect to the body of the wearerin spite of any bending, turning or twisting of the wearers body, whileat the same time causing no inconvenience or discomfort and nointerference with free body movements.

A more specific object is the attainment of the preceding object byconstructing the apron which carries the rupture pad to have noelasticity along its median line but to have considerable elasticityalong downwardly converging lines 'on either side of the median line, sothat when there is bending of the body of the wearer the angle betweenthe said median lineoi the apron and the belt may change withoutdisturbing the rupture pad.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with thedescription of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposesof the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. l is a general view of a support embodying theinvention.

Fig, 2 is a. fragmental detail view showing an auxiliary pouch pieceattached to the support.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental view of the belt with the supporting elementsremoved showing the inelastic reenforcement from which the supportingelements are removably hung.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a complete device in operative position,and

Fig. 5 is a fragmental view on a larger scale showing the detailconstruction of one of the aprons.

The support herein disclosed is intended for the treatment of rupture orhernia in both male and female patients, although some slightmodifications are desirable in the two cases, and in order to render ita simple and easy matter to effect these changes the supporting elementsproper are connected to the belt by readily separable fastenings.

In the drawing I have shown a relatively wide belt l0 adapted to extendaround the waist of the wearer, and to have its ends secured together12. The belt may be formed largely of a woven material having elasticcords or threads extending lengthwise in order to make the beltstretchable in that direction, while the weft threads, which extend upand down, are inelastic. At the back of the belt I may attach, bystitching preferably, two reenforcing strips 13 which are inelastic andserve to connect separate pieces of the belt material where the latteris cut in order to fit it to the form of the wearer. I may also providestays l4 and, I5 near the ends of the belt to which the straps andbuckles are secured.

In that part of the belt which comes in front when it is being worn,there is a reenforcement I6 which consists of a strip of inelasticmaterial that is sewn to the belt proper. In. this strip are mounted theinner members ll of a series of snap fasteners, the outer members I8 ofthese fasteners being carried in another inelastic strip l9, andobviously these two strips are readily connected together or separated.

In the drawing I have shown two aprons 2i! and 2|, partially overlappingbut not interconnected, these aprons being secured to the lower edge ofstrip 1.9, as by stitching. The construction of these. apronsconstitutes an important feature lOf the present invention. Since theyare identical, a description of one will serve for both. Each apron istriangular and is made up of two smaller triangles which aresubstantially right angle triangles. They are made from material whichmay be similar to that of the belt I I], that is it is a woven materialwith the warp threads 22 consisting of fabric-covered rubber cords, andhaving weft threads 23 which are inelastic. The material used in theaprons may be said to be cut on the bias, and is arranged so that thewarp threads 22 of the two small triangles converge downwardly, meetingat a median line of the large triangle. The two small triangles are sewntogether along this median line, as indicated in Fig. 5, and the longside of the large triangle is sewn to the inelastic strip l9, Then theseam. between the two triangles is reenforced, preferably fro-nt andback, with inelastic tape 24, so that there is noelasticity or stretchalong the median line of the apron and the position of each point inthis line at all times remains constant with respect to the reenforcingstrip I 6 on the belt. Suitable pads may be secured to one or the otheror both of the aprons 2D and 2|, according to the location of therupture which is to be treated, as more particularly explained in mycopending application Serial No. 110,266, filed November 11, 1936. Thus,while a pad attached to an apron along or near its median line ismaintained accurately in the selected position so long as the belt isproperly adjusted, nevertheless when the patient moves his body bybending, twisting or turning so as to tend to increase the angle betweenthis median line and the belt, the elastic cords 22 on that side willyield and permit such action without discomfort to the patient andwithout dislocation of the rupture pad.

At the lower corners of the aprons 20 and 2| I attach straps 25 and 26respectively, so that in effect they constitute continuations of thetapes 22. These straps are adapted to extend downwardly between the legsof the wearer and upwardly behind his body, and are adapted to beconnected by buckles 21 and 28 with the belt. These straps serve ofcourse todraw the aprons 20 and 2| against the body of the wearer andkeep the inelastic tapes marking the median lines of the aprons in thepositions which they are intended to maintain.

Cloth pouch pieces 30, of such shape and size as may be best suited tothe particular purpose for which they are designed, are provided forquick and easy attachment or detachment in order that they may be wornwhen desired as an auxiliary support and may be laundered with facility.For this purpose I preferably provide inner snap fastener members 3| and32 on the strip I9 and on the straps 25 and 26, and corresponding outersnap fastener members 33 and 34 on the pouch piece 30.

While in the drawing I have illustrated two aprons 20 and 2|, and twostraps 25 and 26, I desire to point out that it is quite within thebroader aspects of the invention to employ a single apron and a singlestrap, and in some cases Where it is desired to treat a patient who hasa single rupture on one side of the body, and where it is not desired toemploy the device for other supplementary purposes, I have found it bestto use a single apron and a single strap.

Variations from the described structure may be employed. Accordingly Idesire it to be understood that the scope of the invention is to be regarded as defined exclusively by the appended claims rather than by theforegoing description or the accompanying illustration.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An abdominal and rupture support, comprising a belt adapted to beplaced around the body of the wearer, a substantially triangular apronattached to said belt and extending downwardly therefrom, said aproncomprising two sets of parallel elastic cords, the cords of each setextending downwardly and inwardly toward an intermediate linesubstantially bisecting the triangle, means extending along the saidline for preventing stretching action in the direction of said line, andmeans for drawing the lower end of said apron toward the body of thewearer.

2. An abdominal and rupture support, comprising a belt adapted to beplaced around the body of the wearer, a substantially triangular apronattached to said belt and extending downwardly therefrom, said apronbeing formed of two pieces of fabric the warp of which consists ofelastic cords and extends diagonally downward and inward, the warp cordsof one piece meeting the warp cords of the other piece at a median line,and means for uniting said two pieces together along said median line,said last named means being inelastic along the direction of said line.

3. In a support of the character described, a belt, a pair of partiallyoverlapping aprons of triangular form attached to the belt, each of saidaprons having downwardly converging elastic cords meeting at a medianline, said median lines being spaced apart, means for preventingstretching along said median lines, a pair of straps attached to theaprons at the lower ends of said non-stretching median lines, and anauxiliary pouch piece connected to said aprons and to said straps belowthe lower ends of said aprons by readily separable fastenings.

4. In a support of the character described, an elastic belt, aninelastic strip attached to said belt, a pair of straps connected withsaid strip at spaced points adapted to pass between the legs of thewearer and up behind his body to the belt, and a pouch piece connectedto said strip and to said straps by readily separable fastenings.

5. An abdominal and rupture support comprising a belt adapted to beplaced about the body of the wearer, a substantially triangular apronfastened throughout its upper edge to the belt and extending downwardlyfrom the belt, and a strap attached to the lower end of the apron at thepoint of the triangle, the apron being substantially inelastic in thedirection of the strap and being elastic throughout its extent onopposite sides of a central portion in line with the strap.

ALBERT L. AUSTIN.

